Dobbins, Zepeda provide points in close loss at UTEP

EL PASO, TEXAS – Ronald Awatt’s short touchdown run early in the fourth quarter gave Texas-El Paso the lead in a defensive battle, and the Miners held on to take a 17-13 win over FCS-member Abilene Christian University in a non-conference game Saturday night in historic Sun Bowl Stadium. 

ACU outgained the Miners 308-293 in total yards but a pair of turnovers at key junctures kept the Wildcats – 6-7 overall and 4-5 in the Southland Conference last season – from winning their opening game of 2020. 

UTEP of Conference USA, playing its third game after a 59-3 loss last week to Texas, moved to 2-1 on the season and 2-0 at home for the first time in a decade. The Miners, 1-11 overall and 0-8 in C-USA last year, beat Stephen F. Austin 24-14 in their first game this fall.

Sophomore quarterback Gavin Hardison completed 15 of 25 passes for 195 yards for the Miners. Sophomore wide receiver Jacob Cowing caught eight balls for 110 yards and senior running back Josh Fields rushed 17 times for 78 yards and one score. Junior quarterback Peyton Mansell, in his first start for ACU after transferring from the Iowa Hawkeyes, completed 13 of 20 passes for 197 yards.

Two fumbles in the first half kept the Wildcats from dominating the home team and pulling a season-opening upset of the first of three FBS opponents on their schedule.

ACU looked to be on its way to scoring on its open drive, moving 40 yards in just three plays before junior runningback Tyrese White fumbled at the end of a 10-yard run, giving UTEP the ball on its 35. But the Wildcat defense forced a stop, sophomore wide receiver Jordan Brooks-Wess returned a punt 27 yards, and six plays later, ACU took a 7-0 lead when freshman running back Jermiah Dobbins bulled his way 2 yards into the end zone.

The visiting Wildcats dominated the first quarter and continued their longest drive of the game – 16 plays – into the second before a fake field goal by ACU was thwarted by UTEP at the Miner 33-yard-line. 

UTEP drove back down the field and got on the scoreboard with a 27-yard field goal by Gavin Baechele, cutting the ACU lead to 7-3 with 8:31 left in the half.

On the ensuing drive, a fumbled handoff between Mansell and Dobbins gave UTEP the ball once more, in addition to a personal foul, at the ACU 27. Two plays and 55 yards later, the Miners took the lead when Fields ran 5 yards for the score and a 10-7 lead.  

ACU had a golden scoring opportunity following a short UTEP punt that gave head coach Adam Dorrel’s team the ball on the Miner 42-yard line with 1:22 left before halftime. But the Wildcats couldn’t cash in on the short field.

On its first drive of the second half, after holding UTEP to a 3-and-out to begin the third quarter, Mansell led the Wildcats smartly down the field. A 30-yard completion to junior tight end Remington Lutz was the key play in setting put a game-tying 29-yard field goal by sophomore Blair Zepeda with 5:45 left.

Hardison connected on a 36-yard pass to senior wide receiver Justin Garrett and a 19-yarder to Cowing on UTEP’s first play of the ensuing drive. The Miners converted on 4th-and-1 from the ACU 30, and a holding penalty gave UTEP the ball at the 9-yard line. Three plays later, Awatt capped the 13-play, 75-yard drive when he ran 4 yards to put the Miners up 17-10.

UTEP forced a 3-and-out on ACU’s next possession when Taelyn Williams dropped a long third-down pass from Mansell in Miner territory.

The Wildcats allowed the Miners to drive to their 33-yard line with 8:57 left before burying Hardison on a huge 4th-and-1 run up the middle that went nowhere. 

ACU cut the score to 17-13 on its next drive, powered by a 43-yard pass from Mansell to junior wide receiver L.J. McConnell on second down, and capped by another Zepeda field goal, this time a 39-yarder with 5:19 remaining to play.

But the Miners, whose game-winning scoring drive took nearly half a quarter off the clock in the second half, played keep-away from the Wildcats to end the game. 

Senior safety Byron Robinson Jr. led ACU in tackles with seven and junior safety Brian Bullock added six. The Wildcats sacked Hardison twice.

White was the Wildcats’ leading rusher with 41 yards on 11 carries, and Dobbins added 36 on nine carries. Sophomore wide receiver Taelyn Williams had two receptions for 77 yards and McConnell had three for 44.

Abilene Christian will play the second of its three FBS opponents of the season when it travels Oct. 3 to take on Army West Point in New York. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. CDT at Michie Stadium.

PLAYS THAT MATTERED

• 1Q – Jermiah Dobbins scored on a tough 2-yard run with 9:03 left in the opening quarter. Blair Zepeda’s successful PAT kick put ACU on top, 7-0. Scoring drive: 56 yards, 6 plays, 3:06
• 2Q – Gavin Baechle kicked a 28-yard field goal for UTEP with 8:31 left in the half to narrow the ACU lead to 7-3. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 4:21
• 2Q – Josh Minor ran 5 yards for a TD to put the Miners in the lead, 10-7 with 6:11 left. Scoring drive: 2 plays, 56 yards, 0:48.
• 3Q – ACU evened the score at 10-10 on Zepeda’s 29-yard field goal with 6:58 left. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 66 yards, 5:45.
• 4Q – Ronald Awatt ran 4 yards for a TD and Baechele’s PAT put UTEP back on top, 17-10, with 14:12 left. Scoring drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 7:46
• 4Q – Zepeda kicked a 39-yard field goal to pull ACU closer, 17-13, with 5:19 left. Scoring drive: 6 plays, 45 yards, 3:33

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Wildcat head coach Adam Dorrel preaches winning the turnover game. ACU’s two fumbles tonight were likely the difference in the close battle with the Miners.
• ACU had a 105-13 lead in yards of total offense and 9-1 in first downs after one quarter of play. The Miners flipped that script in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.
• 2019 was the first season the Wildcats opened and closed a schedule playing a pair of FBS teams: North Texas and Mississippi State. They are scheduled to do that again in 2020 with tonight’s game against UTEP and a Nov. 21 game at Atlantic Coast Conference-member Virginia. In between, ACU travels Oct. 3 to play Army West Point.

STAT CORNER

• In overall yardage, ACU outgained the Miners on the ground, 104-98, and through the air, 204-195.

• The teams entered the fourth quarter tied 10-10 but the Miners dominated the final frame, holding ACU to 0 yards rushing and 1 first down while running 20 plays to the Wildcats’ 3.  

• In the first half, the Wildcats’ lead in total offense was 184-128 and the defense had held the Miners to 28 yards on the ground. Abilene Christian enjoyed a 19:55 to 10:05 advantage in time of possession.

NOTABLE

• The two teams have now split their six-game series. ACU entered tonight’s game having won two straight (14-6 in 1958 and 28-22 in 1959), back when the Miners played their home games on Kidd Field. The Sun Bowl opened in 1963.  

• UTEP is one just nine teams to have a 12-game schedule in the COVID-influenced 2020 fall season. Its 51,000-seat Sun Bowl Stadium has had its capacity limited to 8,594 for 2020.

• Texas-El Paso, originally known as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, and later, as Texas Western College, enrolled 24,879 students this fall. ACU has 5,293 students.